Book Review - Midnight Flower: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Poems

Midnight Flower: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Poems, is Shirley Mandel's first collection of poetry. Mandel's struggles to overcome a mental disability and life circumstances are beautifully, humorously, wittingly, and quite significantly evident on each page of the slim 64 page book. In simple, poignant, down-to-earth terms, Mandel confronts the realism of every day problems, thoughts, and wonderings through the perspective of someone with first hand knowledge of how it feels to be different if not unfairly cast out in today's society.

Mandel's refuge in Christ is prominently displayed throughout the collection and is intuitively found on the cover design, which is a photograph of an old slightly rusted watering can, alone, in the middle of an array of brightly colored flowers. The cover design seems to echo the sentiments of the poem Containers, as no matter what type of container a person uses to catch the rain of Jesus, Mandel's message encourages the reader to use something. In the hustle and bustle of today's world, too many times we seek out the lovely flowers without giving a passing glance to the rusted watering cans that are wonderfully special and truly remarkable.

Mandel's collection is definitely a humbling read. Mandel's casual language creates moving imagery in an honest, sincere, fun, and at times quirky fashion as she finds, confronts, and talks to God. Mandel describes and discovers Christian symbolism and faith in both ordinary and extraordinary places and objects.

The poem Fragile Frame offers a few terse lines to answer the classic question of existence and purpose, while An Imperfect Vessel openly admits shortcomings mixed with the genuine desire to be used for His glory. In TV Night Mandel prays about the hysterical images she's been watching on her television, and in Night Poems she beautifully describes how she finds God, "a midnight flower" and the inspiration for her title, in the deepest moments of her personal darkness. Through poems like The Table of Friendship, Taken Away, Mental Hospital, Hope, and Poverty the reader begins to understand and acknowledge that Mandel's ministry is truly heartfelt because she was once among those whom she now desires to help.

Whether Mandel is pointing out a parallel between God's creation of man and the crucifixion in Double Love, or figuratively and quite literally comparing Lucifer to a turkey strutting his stuff in The Turkey, her poems are simple delights. More than a few of her poems read like prayers straight from a candid, yet eloquent soul. In Song of God, Mandel describes birds as a "choir of God's meekest children," and then in The Sparrow she compares herself to a commonplace "fat, little bird." However, Mandel is far from ordinary. God has gifted her with a true song that she sings from her heart. In a world where a great deal of emphasis is placed on glamour and bling bling, Mandel's simple sincerity is refreshing.

My favorite poem in Mandel's book is The Shopping Spree. Though the shortest poem in the entire book, it's amazing how 20 simple words can contain such a huge message. I don't know if it's due to our culture of overabundance, or because I do most of the shopping and the prices of groceries keep skyrocketing, but for multiple reasons this poem made me joyfully laugh aloud. The book is definitely worth buying if only to read this one quippy little poem.

The collection very appropriately concludes with the poem Beautiful for Situation. Here the reader finds only a small glimpse at some of the realistic situations that the author has experienced, endured, and confronted during her lifetime. Mandel finds what is beautiful in each of these situations as she concentrates on her Lord, or in her own words, "the hub of all creation."

For Mandel, this anthology is fulfillment of her dream to publish a book. She continues to share and minister with others as she has graciously donated copies of her book to multiple psychiatric facilities, and would one day love to have a copy of it in every psychiatric facility in the United States. Mandel earned two Bachelor of Art degrees, one in English and one in Journalism, from Averett University. She has also won several poetry awards of excellence from Averett University. Mandel frequently attends the monthly meetings of the Writers Studio in South Boston, Virginia and she is a recent contributor on Associated Content. Midnight Flower An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Poems is available in paperback book or download through Lulu.com.

Click on Shirley's AC article Seven Little Poems About a Big God to read a short sampling of her poetry.